Button-feeding device for button-sewing machines.



G. E. BARKER. I

BUTTON FEEDING DEVICE FOR BUTTON SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED APR-1.1915. Patented Nov. 16,

lnvenTor E. Bar K e r, W761 M ZZWM AIiy's.

George ED STATES ATENT onnrcn 'GEORGE E. BARKER, OF ARLINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE REECE- TION OF MAINE.

IBUTTON-FEEDIN G DEVICE FOR BUTTON-SEWING MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent. t t 5, 5

Application filed April 1, 1915. Serial No. 18,633.

i To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. Barman, a citizen of the United States,residing at Arlington, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, haveinvented an Improvement in Button-Feeding Devices for But ton-SewingMachines, of which the following description, in connection with theaccompanying drawing, is a specificat on, l ke characters on the drawingrepresenting like parts. This invention relates to machines for sewingI-shanked buttons, such as are used feeding the buttons from thereservoir to the chute by which they are conveyed to the sewingmechanism, and the object of the invention is to provide a novelbutton-feeding mechanism which will be positive in 1ts action, whichwill not become readlly worn by the operation of feeding the buttons,and which will accomplish the button-feeding'operation without. injuryto the buttons, and which will have other advantages, all as will bemore fully hereinafter described.

In order to give an understanding of my invention I have illustrated inthe drawings a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described,after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through areservoir for abutton-sewing machine embodying my 1nvention, taken onthe line yy,- Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a rear view of the reservoir shown 1 nFig. 1 with the plate?) removed; F g. 3 1s a fragmentary sectional viewshowing the driving connection between the button-feeding member and theshaft 10; Fig. 4 s a section on the line a-a, Fig. 3; Fig. 5 s aperspective view of the button-feeding member.

voir to the chute that conveys them to the sewing mechanism, I have notthought it necessary to illustrate the sewing machine as an entirety buthave confined the illustrations in the drawings to the reservoir and thebutton-feeding mechanism.

I have shown at 1 a button-receiving reservoir which communicates with achute leading to the button-sewing mechanism. This chute is formed bythe two parts 2 and 3 which depend from the reservoir 1 and which areshaped to present a space 4 for the buttons 5 and a guiding groove 6 inwhich the shanks 7 of the buttons are re: ceived, said space and grooveoperating to hold the buttons in proper position, all as described inthe above'mentioncd patents. This chute communicates at its upper endwith the reservoir 1, as shown at 8, and in devices of this type it iscustomary to provide a button-feeding device for feeding buttons fromthe reservoir into the upper end of the chute- In the patents abovereferred to this button-feeding device is in the form of an oscillatorybrush mounted in the reservoir and oscillated from the stitchformingmechanism, the oscillations of the brush causing the bristles thereof toengage and agitate the buttons in the reservoir and feed them toward theenterin end of the chute, some of the buttons being properly positionedby such agitation and feeding movement so that they will drop into theopen end of the chute.

Experience has shown that a button-feeding device in the form of a brushis unsatisfactory -because the bristles wear away after a comparativelyshort time to such an extent that the buttons are not fed to the chutewith sufficient rapidity, and when this occurs it is necessary toreplace the worn brush by a new one.

I have provided herein a novel buttonfeeding device which will withstandany wear to which it may be subjected, but which is sufficientlyyielding in its character and in its movement to prevent any injury tothe buttons should one of them become caught and which has otheradvantages.

My improved button-feeding device is shown. at 9 and it is mounted on ashaft 10 that extends through a bearing 11 in the reservoir and has awire or other connection 12 secured thereto by which it is oscillated,this wire or connection 12 leading to and being actuated from thestitch-forming mechanism. The button-feeding member 9 is made of toughbut somewhat elastic material, so that it will not only withstand anywear to which it may be subjected, but will also give somewhat toprevent any injury,

to the buttons. I find that leather makes clination, as shown, thebuttons will nat- I urally gravitate toward the lower side of thereservoir so that when the button-feeding device is in the full lineposit1on,. Fig.

2, some of the buttons will fall down against the bottom 14 of thereservoir in front of the-shoulder or edge 13 and when thebutton-feeding device moves into the dotted line position, these buttonsare fed forwardly by said edge 13, and one or more of them will bedropped into the upper end of the chute.

The extent of the opening or cut-away portion'14 of the button-feedingmember 9 15 such relative 'to the angle through which said memberoscillates that when it is in its retracted position, as seen in fulllines Fig. 2, the edge 34 of the opening 14 has been carried past theentering end 8 of the chute. If, therefore, a button becomes caught atthe entrance to the chute, the edge 34 will dislodge it so as to leavethe chute free for the entrance of buttons thereto upon the next forwardmovement of the feeding edge 13.

I have provided herein a construction by which the button-feeding device9 is yieldingly secured to the shaft 10. This is herein accomplished bsecuring the feeding device 9 to two collars 17 and 30 that are looselymounted on the shaft and are situated either side of the member 9, saidcollars and member 9 being secured together by screws 31. Theseconnected collars are situated between and held in place on the shaft 10by collars 18 and 19 both fast to the shaft. The collar 30 is cut away,as shown at 20, and the collar 19 which is fast to the shaft is providedwith a projecting portion 21 which occupies the space 20 where thecollar 30 is cut away. One or more springs 22 are interposed between theshoulder 23 of the collar and the shoulder 24 of the extension 21, saidsprings yieldingly holding the shoulders 26 on the collar against theshoulder 27 on the sleeve. The spring 22 is of sufiicient strength towithstand the'normal pressure of the buttons against the edge 13 duringthe oscillatory movement of the feeding device 9, but if a buttonbecomes caught at the entering throat of the chute, then the spring 22will yield suflicientl to prevent any injury to the button. he member13- will thus give a positive feeding movement to the buttons, but it issufficiently yielding in its nature so that it will not injure or marthe buttons as a hard non-yielding metallic feeding member would.Further, the feeding member 9 being of leather is tough and will resistthe wear to which it is subjected much longer than a feeding member inthe form of a brush would, and moreover, since the feedin member 9 isyieldingly sustained on the oscillating shaft, there is no danger thatit will crush or injure a button which ma be can ht at the entering endof the chute.

Wh' e I have described the feeding member 9 as made of leather, yet I donot wish to be limited to this particular material, as any materialwhich is sufiiciently yielding so that it will not injure the buttonsbut which has suflicient strength and toughness to perform the desiredfunctions may be used without departing from the invention.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination with abutton-receiving reservoir, of a chute communicating with the reservoir,an oscillatory button-feeding member in the reservoir formed of materialhaving a slightly yielding nature and presenting a radialbutton-engaging edge, and means to oscillate said member to feed buttonsinto the chute.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with abutton-receiving reservoir, of a chute communicating with the reservoir,an oscillatory button-feeding member 1n the reservoir, said member beingmade of leather and presenting a substantially radial button-engagingedge, and means to oscillate said member.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with abutton-receiving reservoir, of a chute communicatingtherewith, a shaftextending through the reservoir, a button-feeding member yieldinglymounted on said shaft and provided with a button-engaging edge, andmeans to oscillate said shaft.

4. In a device ofthe class described, the comblnation with abutton-receiving reservoir, of a chute communicating therewith,a

sleeve loosely mounted on the shaft and havmg a yielding drivingconnection therewith, a button-feeding member secured to said sleeve,and means to oscillate the shaft.

5. In a device of the class described,ithe combination with abutton-receiving resershaft extending through the reservoir, a

voir, of a chute communicating with the reservoir, an oscillatorybuttonfeeding member in the reservoir having two radially-extendingedges spaced from each other an angular distance substantially equal tothe angle through which said member oscillates whereby one edge willfeed buttons to the chute andthe other will dislodge any buttons that imay become caught at the entrance to the chute.

6. In a device of the class described, the

ing two opposed edges spaced an angular distance apart substantiallyequal to the angle through which said member oscillates whereby one edgewill feed buttons to the chute and the other will dislodge any buttons20 GEORGE E. BARKER.

Witnesses:

' F. A. SHEA,

LoUIs C. SMITH.

